Not Without You
by RHfan
Summary: After what happened at Malfoy Manor, Ron realizes what he could have lost. While taking care of Hermione at Shell Cottage, he may just have to come clean about how he really feels, or let it drive him insane. R/Hr.


Hello there. Well this is my first Harry Potter story. I love Ron/Hermione and I like to read the stories about them after Hermione was tortured. That part of the book was so intense. So I was inspired to write one of my own. It's a oneshot but I hope you like it.

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_Thud_

Ron had landed hard on the ground. Not to far away from him, Hermione had landed, unconscious. It was the evil doing of Bellatrix Lestrange. Ron had heard everything from the cellar of Malfoy Manor. He couldn't even imagine the pain she must have been in.

He quickly crawled over to her.

"Hermione."

When she didn't respond he carefully lifted her up into his arms and quickly but gently carried her up to Bill and Fleur's cottage.

"You'll be alright Hermione."

He had reached the cottage and by this time Bill and Fleur had come outside.

"Here Ron, I'll take her." Bill had reached out to take Hermione from Ron's arms.

"No! I'll take her inside. Where's the spare bedroom?"

"Upstairs, second door on the left. Fleur will be there in a few minutes to see her." As Ron hurried towards the stairs Bill called out to him. "Ron. She'll be alright." Ron heard him but he chose not to acknowledge him because he was too busy with the task at hand. He had to make sure Hermione was going to be okay.

Ron gently laid her down on the bed and pushed away the hair that had fallen in her face. There wasn't a chair in the room so he sat on the bed next to her.

"Hermione. Can you hear me?" He was worried. She hadn't stirred once since they had gotten to Shell Cottage.

"Has she voken up yet?" Fleur had come into the room to check on her.

"No. Not yet."

"Vot happened?" Fleur came to stand next to them.

"I can't tell you much but, she was put under the cruciatus curse. Then she had a knife pressed into her throat. Do you have anything that can help her?"

Fleur sighed. "I do. Though I am afraid I cannot give it to her until she vakes up. I vill come back later, zer is nothing I can do for now. I have to go help. Harry has come back."

"Is he okay?"

"Yes, I believe he is fine. But the house elf...he is dead."

Ron was taken aback. "Dobby?" As Fleur nodded and left, Ron felt terrible. Dobby was the reason they had escaped Malfoy Manor. Ron looked at Hermione and knew that when she woke up he would have to tell her about Dobby.

He lay down next to her, trying as hard as possible not to disturb her.

"I'm so sorry Hermione. I tried. You don't know how hard I tried to get to you. I could hear you upstairs in pain, and all I could do was to scream your name. I should have done more. I should have tried harder to get to you. This is all my fault." He reached out and gently touched her neck under the gash.

"It's not." Quickly Ron removed his hand from her neck.

"Hermione?" He sat up next to her. "Hermione, are you awake?"

"Yes." She opened her eyes to look at him. "Ron it's not your fault."

"Shhh. It doesn't matter. Are you okay, can I get you anything, are you in pain?"

"I'll be okay. My neck hurts though." She reached for her neck to rub it.

He removed her hand from her neck. "Bellatrix threatened us with your life. She pushed a knife into your neck. You'll definitely have a scar there."

"Where's Harry? Is he okay?" She sat up.

Ron pushed her back down on the bed. "He's fine. He's outside." He didn't want to but he had to tell her. "Hermione, I have to tell you something."

"Okay, shoot, I guess."

"The reason we escaped was because Dobby helped us to. I don't know how it happened, but somehow..."

"What? Ron, what?"

"Dobby didn't make it Hermione. He's dead."

Silent tears began to roll down her cheeks. "I knew that some people weren't going to make it through this war. It's just that Dobby was the reason we survived."

He lay down and pulled her over to him. She cried herself to sleep on Ron's shoulder. She didn't see it, but Ron had cried himself to sleep also. He wasn't sad for himself, he was sad for her. She didn't deserve the pain she was in and all he wanted to do was to take away the pain for her.

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That's how he found them. Lying together on the bed. Ron with his arm around her. Hermione with her head snuggled into his shoulder.

Harry had come into the room only after being fully checked by Fleur to make sure he was alright. She had insisted he lie down on the couch for a while but he wouldn't until he had found Ron and Hermione.

He stood at the bedside and quietly, as to not wake Hermione, called out to Ron.

"Ron, Ron wake up." Ron opened his eyes. "Can we talk in another room? I don't want to wake her."

"Yeah. Sure." Carefully he removed his arm from around Hermione. He took the blanket from the foot of the bed and draped it over her. Quietly he and Harry left to go to the study.

"How is she?" Harry took a seat in an armchair.

"Not exactly sure." Ron had taken a seat on a lounge chair. "I asked if she was in pain. She said she was okay except her neck hurt her. But you know Hermione, she could be in the worst pain and make it seem as if she's perfectly alright so we won't worry."

"Fleur will give her medecine for the pain. I suspect you haven't asked her what exactly happened in Malfoy Manor yet?"

"No. I haven't the heart to ask her. I'm not even sure I want to know. What I heard there was enough to haunt my dreams forever."

"Well I'm sure she'll tell us when she's ready. How are you doing?"

Ron sighed. "I'm as well as can be expected."

"But you won't really be okay until you know she's alright." Harry got it.

"Yeah. I can only hope she'll be alright." Ron stared out of the window.

"She will be." Harry stared at him. He couldn't even imagine how awful Ron must have been feeling. "You really like her, huh?"

Ron continued to stare out of the window. " I love her."

"So why don't you tell her?"

"I want to, honestly I do, but..."

"But what?" Harry didn't understand what was so hard about the situation.

"It's just that, I've been waiting for the right time."

"Why not now?"

"What?" Ron asked.

"Really Ron, why not now? It's the perfect time."

"Harry, she was tortured tonight. She's got so much on her mind, I don't want to drop this on her now."

"That's exactly why now is the right time." Harry moved to sit next to him on the lounger. "We almost lost her tonight Ron. Heaven forbid but, what if she died and you hadn't told her how you felt? How would that have been? You need to tell her or it's going to drive you nuts."

"I know. I know that you're right. I'll tell her when she wakes up." Ron turned more towards Harry. "Fleur told me about Dobby. I'm really sorry, so is Hermione." Harry raised an eyebrow. "I told her. She was upset. That's why you found us the way we were. She cried herself to sleep." He made sure to leave out the part about him.

"Dobby saved us and all he got in return was a knife in the heart. Doesn't quite seem fair does it?" Harry put his hand on Ron's shoulder. "You should get back to Hermione. If she wakes up, she's going to wonder where you went."

"Okay, I'll see you later then?" They walked out of the study back to the guestroom.

"Yeah, I'll send Fleur up in a bit to give medicine to Hermione." Harry headed for the stairs. "Hey, Ron?"

"Yeah."

"Just tell her. And if you feel to urge to back out, remember what could have happened."

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Ron went back to kneel by the bedside. He gently stroked one of Hermione's hands as it lay close to him. When she woke up he would tell her.

She attempted to turn over onto her side facing Ron, but as she tried to move she let out a painful groan. Ron knew she had been hiding the fact that she was in pain. He reached out and rubbed her cheek. This caused her to awaken.

"Hey sleepy."

"Hey. Where did you go?" She asked him.

"You noticed I was gone?"

"I figured when there was a lack of warmth on my left side."

Ron laughed. "I went to talk to Harry. We would have talked in here but we didn't want to wake you."

"Oh, how is he?"

"He's okay. You know Harry. He'll make it."

"Yeah, I know." She moved a little and let out another cry of pain.

"I'm going to go get you some medicine for the pain alright? I'll be right back." She nodded and he went downstairs to find Fleur. He ran into her in the kitchen.

"Fleur, can I get Hermione's medicine to take back to her?"

"It's this right here. It's not very pleasant to drink, and it von't take away all of ze pain it vill just make it more bearable. Take it and a glass of vater up to her. Make sure she drinks it all."

He headed back up the stairs and into the guestroom. Hermione had fallen back asleep in his absence. He knew he had to wake her up to take the medicine. She needed to take it sooner rather than later. He set both glasses down on the end table.

"Hermione." He sat down next to her as she woke up. "I've brought the medicine for you. Fleur says it won't take away all of the pain, but it will help. I'll help you sit up."

He pulled her into a sitting position. Her body was against her movements as the pain seared through her.

"Ow."

"Sorry." Ron apologized. "Here, you have to drink all of this." He handed her the medicine.

She sniffed it. "Ugh, this smells awful." She plugged her nose and chugged it with difficulty. "Ugh, and it tastes worse."

"Here have some water." He reached over and gave her the water glass. Every now and then she took a sip.

"Thank you."

"For the water? No problem."

"No." She laughed. "Not for the water. For staying with me here, and for getting me out of that...that torture."

"Hermione, there's something I want to tell you." Ron started but was cut off.

"Wait let me finish. You don't know how bad I just wanted to give up, how bad I wanted her to just end it for good and kill me."

"Don't say that." Ron cut in.

"It's true Ron. But then I heard it. I heard you calling for me, and I remembered that you were in the cellar and that you were in danger. I had to keep her occupied with me long enough so she wouldn't move on to you."

"You were willing to continue being tortured just so you could save me from the same fate?"

"Yeah. That's about right." She handed him the glass and he placed it back onto the table. "So, what was it you wanted to say?"

"Um." He decided if he was going to tell her, he had to come right out and say it. "I love you."

She looked taken aback. "I'm sorry what?"

"I love you, Hermione. I've loved you for a while now; I've just been too scared to tell you. After tonight, I could have lost you so I knew I had to tell you." Hermione was silent. "Could you maybe, say something?"

"Why say it when I could show you?" She reached over and pulled Ron in for a kiss. After a few minutes they parted. "Ow." They laughed. "I love you too, Ron."

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"Well?" Harry asked as Ron came downstairs into the living room.

"I made her go back to sleep for awhile."

"Before she went back to sleep, did you tell her how you feel?"

Ron sat in the empty armchair. "Yep."

"And how did it go?

"I just came out with and said, Hermione I love you, and she said she loved me too."

Harry leaned closer to him. "So, did you kiss her?"

"Yeah, but it was more like she kissed me. That's how she showed me that she loved me."

"Are you official, or are you just keeping it casual for now?

"Gosh Harry, you sure are interested in my love life."

Harry threw a pillow at him. "So I need to hear about something good that happened tonight. And you two have been hiding this since you met. You two have put me through a lot these past few years with your constant arguing."

"I'm sorry mate. I guess we have put you through a lot. I don't know why we argue so much."

"I do. It's you and Hermione's way of flirting with each other. I was just waiting for the day you would finally admit it."

"Okay, I admitted it now."

"Finally." Harry moved the pillow that was behind him. "You still haven't answered my question. Are you officially together now?"

"We haven't discussed it yet. She's been through enough tonight. It can wait."

"Well, I'm sure when she wakes up she'll want to see you and you can bring it up."

"Yeah, I'll bring it up to her later. For now maybe I can take a nap." Ron then shifted himself and attempted to take a nap on the lounger.

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Harry had tried but he just couldn't sleep. He went upstairs to use the restroom. On his way back down the hall he passed the guestroom. The floorboard had creaked when he stepped on it. Still with her eyes closed Hermione called out, "Ron?"

Harry stepped into the room. "Sorry, it's me. I didn't mean to wake you."

She opened her eyes. "I was awake. It's okay."

"Ron's downstairs asleep in the living room. Do you want me to get him?"

"No let him sleep." She did want him to get Ron, but decided not to be selfish.

"Can I do anything for you?"

"Can you help me go downstairs?" She wanted to go see Ron to be honest.

"Are you sure you're feeling well enough to get out of bed?"

"Yes. I feel much better. I'm not saying I'm 100 yet, but I need to get out of this room."

"You know Ron isn't going to like that you're out of bed and walking around."

"Please."

"Alright." He went to her and helped her get out of the bed, down the stairs, and into the living room.

"Thanks. I think I can take it from here."

"Are you sure?" She nodded. "Okay, I'm going to let go now." He let go of her and when he saw that she could keep her balance he felt okay about her being up. "I'll be in the kitchen. Yell if you need me."

As he left Hermione took small, unsteady steps towards the lounger Ron had fallen asleep in. Carefully she sat down beside him. She reached her hand out and with her thumb she stroked his cheek. She didn't mean to wake him up but he did.

"Hermione?" He sat up next to her. "Not that I don't want you here, but what are you doing out of bed? How did you get down here?"

"Relax, Ronald. I asked Harry to bring me down here because I wanted to get out of the room. I wanted to see you too."

He moved over closer to her. "You could of had Harry wake me up. I would have come up to you."

"No, I wanted to move out of that bed."

"You need rest. That's the only way you will get better."

"I knew that you would say that. But I can't stay in that room forever Ron. I need to get up and move around. I know my limits, so trust me that if I feel that I need to lie down I will." She pleaded with him.

"Alright, but don't go places by yourself. If you want to move around take Harry or me with you in case something happens. Your weak, and your body can't take the pressure for very long."

"Fine. I won't." She leaned back into the couch.

"Hermione? About what we talked about earlier. I meant what I said, and I understand if maybe you don't want to be my girlfriend, I mean, there is a war going on and there's a lot on your mind after what happened tonight..."

"Ron stop. Don't you see? I want to be your girlfriend and I'm not going to let some war stand in my way. And I think maybe, it will be better if we have each other during these hard times. To be there for each other. I love you, Ron. No matter what happens I love you."

He took her hands in his. "I love you too. And you're right, I need you. I need you to be with me through everything cause I'm not as strong as you."

"Ron you are strong."

"Not like you are. I don't know how you can be as calm as you are after what happened to you tonight. If that had happened to me I don't know how I would react. I'm a mess as it is and nothing happened to me directly. I'm a mess because of what happened to you. I'm so scared for you."

"I'm scared too Ron, but I can't show my fear because I know it's nothing compared to what Harry fears. Everything we're fighting against is after Harry. He should be more afraid than us."

"Just because Harry is marked for death, doesn't mean you can't tell us how you feel." Ron started to raise his voice and he stood. "We are going through the exact same battles as him, seeing the same things, you've been tortured! You have every right to be scared or upset, or to cry, or yell because what happened to you wasn't fair Hermione. You've done so much for me and Harry, and that's what you get for it?"

Hermione had begun to cry. He sat back down next to her and pulled her into a hug. He himself had begun to cry also. After a few moments of just holding each other they pulled away. "I just keep thinking about what might of happened. What if you didn't make it? I wouldn't be able to be here with you, right now, doing this."

He gently placed his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her to him. He had put all of his anger, heartache, greif, passion, and love into that one kiss. It didn't go unnoticed by Hermione who kissed him back with the same.

She grabbed his face with both of her hands and held it firmly in place so he couldn't look away. "But Ron, I did make it because of you. And I don't plan on going anywhere for a long time. Not without you at least."

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Well there you have it. I would much appreciate it if you would press that little button and submit a review of your thoughts on the story. Please and Thank You.


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